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CALDWELL HEADS TO NCAA BASEBALL REGIONAL FOR SECOND STRAIGHT SEASON

May 13, 2008

CALDWELL, N.J. - The Caldwell College baseball team will participate in the 2008 NCAA Division II Northeast Region Tournament, which will be hosted by top-seeded Franklin Pierce University May 15-18 in Rindge, N.H. The Cougars, who won a program-best 32 games this season, earned an automatic bid to the regional by winning the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Tournament this past weekend. Caldwell, seeded fourth, will play third-seeded Southern Connecticut State University in the first round on Thursday, May 15 at 6:00 p.m.

This is the second consecutive trip to the Northeast Region Tournament for the Cougars, who went 1-2 at last year's tournament, hosted and won by Franklin Pierce. Caldwell also participated in the 2004 Northeast Regional after winning the CACC Tournament that year.

The Cougars, coached by Chris Reardon, used outstanding pitching and a pair of timely home runs by sophomore outfielder Adric Saxon (Coral Springs, FL/Broward CC) to capture the CACC Tournament for the second time in the 13-year history of the program. Juniors Eric Hines (Milltown, NJ/Spotswood) and Stephen Pfeil (Hampstead, NH/Pinkerton Acad.) and sophomore Robert Casal (Howard Beach, NY/St. Francis Prep) held opposing batters to two runs on 11 hits over 25 2/3 innings in the three victories. Casal, the CACC Pitcher of the Year, and Hines pitched back-to-back three-hit shutouts on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

Saxon hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th inning to lift the Cougars past Dominican, 6-5 on Thursday. He then blasted a solo shot in a 3-0 triumph in Sunday's final against Dominican. Senior catcher Chris Chiarappa (Elmont, NY/Holy Trinity) also made the All-Tournament team along with Saxon and the three starting pitchers.

Franklin Pierce (39-12), the two-time defending Northeast Region champion, is the No. 1 seed, while fellow Northeast-10 members Bryant University (39-19) and Southern Connecticut State (36-17) are seeded second and third, respectively. Caldwell (32-17) is the fourth seed, followed by East Coast Conference teams Dowling College (28-17) and C.W. Post (29-25), who are the fifth and sixth seeds.

Here's the complete tournament schedule:

NCAA Division II Northeast Region Baseball Tournament

Thursday, May 15

Game 1: No. 1 Franklin Pierce vs. No. 6 C.W. Post, 11:00 a.m.

Game 2: No. 2 Bryant vs. No. 5 Dowling, 2:30 p.m.

Game 3: No. 3 S. Connecticut St. vs. No. 4 Caldwell, 6:00 p.m.

Friday, May 16

Game 4: Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2, 11:00 a.m.

Game 5: Winner of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 3, 2:30 p.m.

Game 6: Winner of Game 2 vs. Winner of Game 3, 6:00 p.m.

If four teams remain:

Saturday, May 17

Game 7: Winner of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 6, 3:00 p.m.

Game 8: Winner of Game 4 vs. Loser of Game 6, 6:30 p.m.

Game 9: Winner of Game 8 vs. Loser of Game 7, 10:00 p.m.

Sunday, May 18

Game 10: Winner of Game 7 vs. Winner of Game 9, 2:00 p.m.

Game 11: Re-play Game 10 if necessary, 5:30 p.m.

If five teams remain after Game 6 and two after Game 9:

Saturday, May 17

Game 7: Loser of Game 5 vs. Loser of Game 6, 3:00 p.m.

Game 8: Winner of Game 4 vs. Winner of Game 5, 6:30 p.m.

Game 9: Winner of Game 6 vs. Winner of Game 7, 10:00 p.m.

Sunday, May 18

Game 10: Winner of Game 8 vs. Winner of Game 9, 2 p.m.

Game 11: if necessary, 5:30 p.m.

If five teams remain after Game 6 and three after Game 9:

Saturday, May 17

Game 7: Loser of Game 5 vs. Loser of Game 6, 3:00 p.m.

Game 8: Winner of Game 4 vs. Winner of Game 5, 6:30 p.m.

Game 9: Winner of Game 6 vs. Winner of Game 7, 10:00 p.m.

Sunday, May 18

Game 10: Loser of Game 9 vs. Winner of Game 8, 2:00 p.m.

Game 11: Winner of Game 9 vs. Winner of Game 10, 5:30 p.m.